Antinori Wine Theft: 30,000 Bottles of Solaia and Tignanello Stolen
TL;DR
- On the night of 3 to 4 October 2026, masked thieves emptied Antinori's Cortona shipping hub of about 30,000 bottles of 2023 Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso, worth around €5 million.
- In the UK, buy these wines from an established merchant and treat a cheap 2023 bottle from a private or unknown seller as a warning sign.
- It is the third raid on a famous Italian cellar since June, after about 3,000 bottles of Alta Langa at Banfi and more than 3,000 of Barolo at Conterno Fantino.
What happened at Cortona
The raid took place on the night between Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October 2026 at Santa Cristina, at Centoia near Cortona, where Marchesi Antinori runs the logistics and shipping centre for its wines. The cases were packed on pallets, ready to leave for distributors around the world. Staff found the warehouse emptied when they came in on the Monday morning.
Photo: the Val di Chiana from Cortona, by Matthias v.d. Elbe, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
Antinori has long ties to Cortona. It owns the La Braccesca estate in the area as well as the Santa Cristina site, where about 80 people work, the Corriere di Arezzo notes.
Antinori's chief executive, Renzo Cotarella, described how the gang worked, as quoted by WineNews. They disabled the alarm and put the cameras out of action. Then they drove in with two large trucks, loaded the cases with the company's own forklifts and left in the night. Most reports put the gang at seven men in masks. The local paper, the Corriere di Arezzo, adds that the gate was forced, the trucks carried false number plates, and the gang knew the site down to where the alarm sensors were.
Carabinieri from Terontola, Cortona and Arezzo are investigating with the state police, under the public prosecutor's office in Arezzo. No arrests had been reported by 10 October. Cotarella, quoted by Il Fatto Quotidiano, said a theft of this size and value had never happened in Italy before.
The three wines that were taken
All 30,000 bottles were from the 2023 vintage. Most Italian reports put Solaia at about 10,000 bottles, and the rest were Tignanello and Guado al Tasso, with some magnums and larger bottles among them, according to Il Sole 24 Ore. WineNews counts them among the Italian wines most sought after by collectors worldwide.
| Wine | What it is | Shelf price in Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Tignanello | Mostly Sangiovese, Chianti Classico hills, Toscana IGT | about €120 |
| Solaia | Cabernet-led, same hill, exceptional years only | about €300 |
| Guado al Tasso | Two Cabernets and Merlot, Bolgheri Superiore | about €140 |
Tignanello comes from a 77-hectare vineyard between the Greve and Pesa valleys. It is mainly Sangiovese with a little Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. It is sold as Toscana IGT rather than as Chianti Classico, and that choice put it at the start of the Super Tuscan story.
Solaia grows on the sunniest part of the same hillside. It was first made in 1978, and Antinori makes it only in exceptional years. Guado al Tasso is a Bolgheri Superiore from Antinori's estate on the Tuscan coast, a blend of the two Cabernets and Merlot, first made in 1990. The prices in the table are the Italian shelf prices quoted by the Corriere di Arezzo.
Antinori Tignanello 2024
Antinori's Tignanello is the Super Tuscan that started it all: a Sangiovese-led blend with Cabernet from a single alberese-limestone vineyard in Chianti Classico. The first Sangiovese aged in barrique, it shows dark cherry, violet, tobacco and cocoa.
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Solaia 2023
Solaia is Marchesi Antinori's Cabernet Sauvignon-led Super Tuscan from the sun-drenched Solaia plot above the Tignanello estate, blended with Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. Around 15 months in new French oak: blackcurrant, violet and tobacco.
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Antinori Guado al Tasso Bolgheri Superiore 2023
Antinori's flagship Bolgheri Superiore from Tenuta Guado al Tasso: a Cabernet Sauvignon-led blend with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, aged in new French oak. Dense blackcurrant, tobacco, liquorice; a 10-year cellar red drinkers return to.
View WineWhy it matters if you buy these wines in the UK
The stolen vintage is the one now on British shelves. Of the UK shops whose prices we follow, seven list Tignanello 2023, four list Guado al Tasso 2023 and two list Solaia 2023, as of 10 October 2026. Antinori's own site already carries its tasting notes for Solaia 2023.
Antinori's warning is not about those merchants. It is about bottles that turn up outside the official trade: a private sale, an online marketplace, or an offer from a seller nobody knows. The company has told its customers and distributors that the stolen bottles could reach the market that way, at lower prices. It has also paused orders for the three wines for the time being, the Corriere di Arezzo reports.
If the three icons are beyond the budget, the same estates sell wines at a tenth of the price. Il Bruciato is the second red of Guado al Tasso, the Chianti Classico Riserva comes from the Tignanello estate, Santa Cristina's Chianti carries the name of the raided site, and Achelo is the Syrah Antinori grows on the slopes just under Cortona.
Il Bruciato - Tenuta Guado al Tasso - Antinori 2024
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Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva Tenuta Tignanello 2023
Marchesi Antinori's historic Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva, sourced since 2011 entirely from the Tenuta Tignanello vineyard between the Greve and Pesa valleys. Mostly Sangiovese on alberese marl, aged in French and Hungarian oak.
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Chianti Superiore DOCG Santa Cristina Marchesi Antinori 2024
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Achelo 2024
La Braccesca's Achelo is Antinori's Cortona DOC Syrah, grown on clay-loam soils between Cortona and Montepulciano. Brief French-oak ageing frames dark berry, violet and black pepper over silky tannins. A polished, food-friendly Tuscan red.
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Villa Antinori Rosso - Antinori 2024
Marchesi Antinori's flagship Tuscan red: a Sangiovese-led blend with Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah from Antinori estates. A year in French and Hungarian oak brings tobacco, dark cherry and supple tannins. A dependable red for steak, ragu and pecorino.
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Chianti Classico DOCG Peppoli Marchesi Antinori 2024
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Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2023
Antinori's Sangiovese-led Chianti Classico Riserva, made since 1928 and aged about 18 months in large oak and small barrels. Cherry, rose and liquorice, silky tannins, a long savoury finish. Around £24 to £34 from eight UK shops.
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Antinori Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2022
Antinori's single-vineyard Gran Selezione: 100% Sangiovese grown around the abbey of Passignano, aged in French and Hungarian oak. Firm, fine tannins and bright acidity frame ripe cherry, violet and leather. Built to cellar, made for red meat.
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Antinori Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino 2021
Antinori's Montalcino estate Brunello, 100% Sangiovese from clay and gravel soils 6km south-west of town. Aged two years in large oak casks: fresh and savoury, with silky tannins, cherry, blood orange and tobacco. A benchmark DOCG red from £42.87.
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Antinori Guado al Tasso Vermentino di Bolgheri 2025
View WineHow to check a bottle before you pay
Antinori says every stolen bottle carries its anti-counterfeiting seal, which can be checked with a smartphone, and the Corriere di Arezzo reports that each one also carries its lot number. The company has warned buyers and the trade worldwide to be wary of any offer from outside its official channels.
The seal has a history. In 2019 Italian investigators broke up a ring accused of selling at least 11,000 fake bottles of Tignanello from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 vintages in Italy, Germany and Belgium, Wine Spectator reported. Antinori had already added an embossed logo on the glass from the 2013 vintage, the embossed Tignanello name from 2015, and a small anti-counterfeit label from 2016.
- Buy from a merchant with a real UK address and a trading history, and ask which importer the stock came from; a good merchant can tell you.
- Compare the price with what established merchants charge, which you can see on our Tignanello page; a bottle far below that is a reason to ask questions.
- Check the seal with your phone and keep the invoice.
- If the answers do not add up, do not buy, and tell the police and Antinori.
The rest of the label, from the producer's name to the classification, is covered in our guide to reading an Italian wine label.
The third raid on a famous Italian cellar since June
Cortona is the largest of three raids on well-known Italian wineries since the summer. Cotarella has said he believes the same criminal organisation hit the other cellars too, the Corriere di Arezzo reports.
| Winery | When | What was taken |
|---|---|---|
| Banfi, Strevi (Piedmont) | Night of 28 to 29 June | About 3,000 bottles of Alta Langa |
| Conterno Fantino, Monforte d'Alba | Night of 16 to 17 September | More than 3,000 bottles of Barolo |
| Marchesi Antinori, Cortona | Night of 3 to 4 October | About 30,000 bottles of Solaia, Tignanello and Guado al Tasso |
At Strevi in Piedmont, thieves took whole pallets of Banfi's Alta Langa, the region's classic-method sparkling wine, picking out the Cuvée Aurora, the Cuvée Aurora Rosé and the 100 Mesi Riserva. Banfi's president, Rodolfo Maralli, said the bottles can be traced through the supply chain, and asked anyone who saw them offered outside the official network to report it, WineNews reported.
At Monforte d'Alba, three or four people dressed in black with covered faces came through the vineyards to Conterno Fantino's cellar and got in through a side window that had no sensor. In about three hours they took more than 3,000 bottles of Barolo from 2021 and 2022, the Sorì Ginestra among them and magnums and three-litre bottles included, and loaded them into two of the winery's own vans, according to Dissapore. Investigators in Arezzo are now comparing the Cortona raid with both.
Both cellars' wines are on sale in the UK, the Sorì Ginestra and the two Cuvée Aurora among them.
Barolo Ginestra "Vigna Sori Ginestra" 2022
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Conterno Fantino Barolo Vigna del Gris 2022
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Barolo, Mosconi Vigna Ped 2022
Conterno Fantino's Mosconi Vigna Ped is a single-vineyard Barolo from organic Nebbiolo grown at 380 to 410 metres on limestone-rich Sant'Agata marls in Monforte d'Alba. Powerful, tar-and-rose scented, built for the cellar, some 6,000 bottles a year.
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Barolo Castelletto Vigna Pressenda 2018
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Conterno Fantino Langhe Nebbiolo Ginestrino 2024
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Alta Langa DOCG Extra Brut Cuvée Aurora Rosé Banfi 2022
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Alta Langa DOCG Blanc de Noirs Pas Dosé Cuvée Aurora Banfi 2017
View WineWhat happens next
The two trucks had not been found by 10 October, and the escape route is unclear. The Santa Cristina site sits close to the fast road between Perugia and Bettolle, which the Corriere di Arezzo names as the likely way out.
The money is unlikely to come back through insurance. Antinori has insurance, but it reportedly does not stretch to a loss of this size, according to Il Sole 24 Ore and the Corriere di Arezzo. Work at Santa Cristina has carried on. The same paper reports that Piero Antinori, the family's honorary chairman, took the raid as if thieves had walked into his own home, and Cortona's deputy mayor, Paolo Rossi, called it an unheard-of blow to the wine history of the area.
Antinori says it still hopes to recover the wine. If you bought a 2023 bottle from an established merchant, nothing changes for you. If someone offers you a case of it this winter at a price that looks too good, that is the bottle this story is about.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, from an established merchant. The bottles were stolen from Antinori's own warehouse at Cortona, and the company's warning is about offers from outside its official channels. The risk sits with private sales, online marketplaces and sellers you do not know. Compare the price with what known merchants charge on our Tignanello page, keep the invoice, and check the anti-counterfeit seal with your phone.
About 10,000, according to most Italian reports, out of roughly 30,000 bottles in total. Il Sole 24 Ore put the figure nearer 12,000, so the final count may change as the investigation goes on. All of them were from the 2023 vintage. Solaia is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese from the sunniest part of the Tignanello hillside.
Both come from the same hillside in the Chianti Classico zone and both are sold as Toscana IGT. Tignanello is mainly Sangiovese with a little Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Solaia turns the balance round: the two Cabernets lead and Sangiovese plays a smaller part. Solaia is also made only in exceptional years: there was none in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 or 1992.
Do not pay. Ask the seller for an invoice showing where the stock came from, check the seal with your phone, and compare the price with established merchants. If the answers do not add up, report the offer to the police and to Marchesi Antinori, which has asked customers and the trade to flag anything from outside its official channels. Banfi made the same request after its own theft in June.
No arrests had been reported by 10 October 2026. Carabinieri from Terontola, Cortona and Arezzo are investigating with the state police, under the public prosecutor's office in Arezzo. The two trucks used in the raid had not been found, and investigators are comparing the case with the summer raids on Banfi and on Conterno Fantino, the Barolo producer at Monforte d'Alba.
